ignited minds of the youth

my speech @ the youth leadership convention

fppfi, 4 feb 2012, camsur convention center, 

capitol complex, pili, cs

am indeed delighted to participate in this 15th anniversary of the fppfi.  i met francis late last year and as i was about to give up finding a man to take me off my feet, i found him.  before i met him, i didn't know of the depth of his involvement in helping the youth, specifically the youth of bicol.  and when we came to talk about our personal advocacies, we found out that really, our paths were meant to cross.

talking in front of an audience as huge as this is really alien to me, this is a first, actually.  while i am used to talking to an audience, the biggest number of which, however, is only maybe less than a hundred.  

but this, oh, my!  just the same, i will share to you my thoughts on the topic of "ignited minds of the youth", which is really, the greatest resource for any nation.

on my way home the other night, on a bus from naga, i asked my friend frank how i can ignite the fire in the minds of the youth?  sadly, i seldom meet one who has the fire i long to see.  most are lame-looking, sleepy.  engrossed with the cp or pc, or whatever you call those gadgets that they cannot seem to live without. 

and just like me, my friend was also entertaining the same question in his mind.  and given this task by Francis to talk here, i could not avoid but go to a deep reflection and ask what really could ignite the minds of the youth.  and as limited as i am, by sharing with you my story, maybe, just maybe, a spark is lit and may find a way to the wick of the candle in your minds and hearts.

let me begin by sharing with you my own journey.
in 2004, when my mother passed away, her last words to me was to "follow my dreams."  what she didn't know, because i kept this to myself at that time, was that, i was actually planning to build my own "field of dreams."  these dreams, and i have three, consist of: a garden / farm, a gallery, a foundation.  to realize my dreams, i started participating in the various agricultural trainings of the dept of agri the following year.  what i have practically sown that year, however, would be devastated by super typhoon reming in 2006.

for the frail-hearted, reming would have made one to turn tail.  but i am not one who easily gives up.  as a poem of the black american poet langston hughes reminds:
hold fast to dreams
for when dreams die
life is a broken winged bird
that cannot fly.
hold fast to dreams
for when dreams go
life is a frozen field
filled up with snow.

i did not want my farm to be frozen in idleness, so in 2007, i began to rebuild the farm along my vision of it, as an actual locus for organic farming and good agricultural practices.  so, as that unseen voice in that kevin costner movie "field of dreams," said, if you build it, they will come."  indeed, after i re-opened la huerta in the same year, people started to come, like the agriculture students from don bosco, then later the cbsua.  

it was not only people, however, who came, but also opportunities and recognitions, which i never expected nor were my driving force, such as the most outstanding rural woman award i got from the dept of agri in 2008, and last year, the gawad saka award for most outstanding high value crops farmer in the bicol region.  they just came or which i discovered serendipitously.

in 2009, i formed F.A.R.M. by bidibidi enterprise, which now provides livelihood to several rural women and education through a scholarship, to deserving youth of baao.
as the facilties of the farm expanded, so were my involvements and engagements, even with visual artists.  the farm has now become a regular site for their painting and sketching sessions; as well as a training venue for rural women on agriculture.
i'd like to think, i found my own niche even as in the beginning, i did not have a rudimentary knowledge of agriculture or even if i had just an inchoate interest in the arts.

so, how was i able to do it?  note that i started with a dream which i doggedly pursued with the passion of a lover.
now, how would you ignite your own minds to have that fire to pursue your dream?  the answer lies both within that complex cerebral cortex and that beating heart of yours.

look up, what do you see, the light, the electric bulbs.  immediately, our thoughts go to the inventor thomas alva edison, for his unique contribution towards the invention of electric bulb and his electrical lighting system. when you hear the sound of a plane going over your house, whom do you think of?  wright brothers proved that man could fly, of course at heavy risk and cost.  whom does the telephone remind you of?  of course, alexander graham bell.  the world is fortunate to have a millenium leader of the 20th century, that is mahatma gandhi, who got india the freedom and also became a great leader for south africa's movement against apartheid.  as president, abraham lincoln rallied most of the the modern democrats to the union cause.  on  1jan 1863, he issued the emancipation proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the confederacy.  lincoln is remembered for this great action throughout the world.

inventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds that have been constantly working and imagining the outcome in the mind.  with imagining and constant effort, all the forces of the universe work for that inspired mind, thereby leadng to inventions and discoveries.

ignite then, that god-given creativity in you.  how?  by striving to be yourself, to be unique.
the question is:  are you willing to become a unique personality?  let me share an experience.

i have met quite a number of youth and every youth wants to be unique, i.e., YOU!  but the world all around you, is doing its best, day and night, to make you just like everybody else.  at home, you are asked by your parents to be like the neighbour's children for scoring good marks.  i heard that a lot of times from my own mother.  well-meaning, of course.  when you go to school, your teacher says "why not become like the first five rankers in the class".  wherever you go, they are saying "you have to be somebody else or everybody else".  in the media, they tell you to wear a pair of jeans becuase that's what other juan and maria are wearing.  have this model of the latest cp or you are baduy.

the challenge, then, is that you have to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can ever imagine to fight; and never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place, i.e., a unique YOU!  what will be your tools to fight this battle:  have a great aim in life, continuously acquire the knowledge, work hard and persevere to realize the great achievement.
this means taking the road less travelled by.  it is a direction where people fear to tread, like the one in your childhood shunned by many because there was a nuno or an aswang lurking at the end.  yet, it is a direction which you must take nevertheless if you want to attain your dream.

you are at this forked road of your life.  the choice for you is either to go the safe way or the road which will in the end, make a difference in your individual lives and in society.

how you will make a difference need not be doing something grand.  remember efren penaflorida, a filipino cnn hero whose concern for literacy brought him worldwide recognition.  what will make a difference is that you pursue your dreams with passion.  when others are tiring and want to go back, just remember the biblical challenge to "walk the extra mile."  sometimes people who are thirsty stop because thet think there is no well where they can draw water, when it turns out, it is just a step away.

there are challenges out there in the world where we can make a difference:  the climate crisis, social justice, the widening social divide, migration and diaspora.  you can surely find your own niche.  the youth working hard in improving his knowledge with a career goal can serve the family, can serve society, can serve the nation to which he or she belongs and can serve humanity as a whole.  all are complimentary.

the contributions of the youth in the past have continuously enriched the world today in many fields.  indeed, education is a crucial point and i would suggest that the educational system must develop this faith among our youth to practice this faith on the confidence in all their actions.
going back to my earlier question:  how does one fulfill one's dream?

there are four proven steps:  have an aim in life before twenty years of age, acquire knowledge continuously, work hard towards the aim and persevere to defeat any problem to succeed.  in this connection, let me recall famous verses of 13th century persian sufi poet jalaluddin rumi:  wings to fly
you were born with potential.
you were born with goodness and trust.
you were born with greatness.
you were born with wings.
you are not meant for crawling, so don't, you have wings.
learn to use them to fly.

in closing, my message to you is that education gives you wings to fly.  achievements comes out of fire in our sub-conscious mind that "i will win".  so, each one of you assembled here and elsewhere will have "wings of fire".  the wing of fire will indeed lead to knowledge which will make you to fly as a doctor, or an engineer, or a scientist, or a teacher, or a political leader, or a bureaucrat or a diplomat or you would like to walk on the moon and mars or anything you want to be.  i would like to assert that no youth today need to fear about the future.  why?  because the ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, under the earth and above the earth.

thank you.